Auction process for coal block sales under commercial mining has started with positive response from the participants where a total of 76 bids have been received in the technical round for 23 blocks, after some of the physical bids were filtered out.
Technical round which is envisaged as the first stage of auction process requires the participants to submit: (a) Bid security (b) Technical bid in the prescribed form and (c) Financial Bid to the extent of specifying the initial offer for the coal block along with offline submission of original documents.
Key findings:
(a) Industry stalwarts like Adani, Essel Mining, Jindal and Hindalco have shown interest in acquiring the blocks, along with several MSME sector and non-coal industries.
(b) 13 participants have sent technical bids for acquiring multiple coal blocks; Adani Enterprises leads the way with 7 entries for various coal blocks.
(c) Gare Palma IV/7 and Gotitoria blocks fetched most number of bids (8) in the technical round.
At the same time, Saregraha from Jharkhand, Kuraloi (A) North and Chendipada blocks offered from Odisha which received a single bid are at a risk of withdrawal as they failed to realize the minimum bid criteria.
Detailed list of bidders in technical round can be seen here.
What’s next?
The participants who meet all the eligibility conditions would be ranked, and thereafter a determination will be made to identify the qualified bidders, who would be entitled to participate in the electronic auction and submit their final offer.
The second and final stage of auction comprising of financial bidding would take place next month.
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